Crispy Chilli Beef recipe
Of all the Chinese takeaway dishes, crispy chilli beef is one of my favourites. It’s strips of crispy fried beef, coated in a sweet, spicy and tangy sauce. The combination of that crispy texture. the spiciness of the chilli and sweet and tangy sauce has made this dish one of the most popular in Brisith Chinese cuisine. You’ll find this dish or a variation of this on every takeaway and local Chinese restaurant.
It was new to me when I first encountered this dish in a London Chinese restaurant. Nowadays, it is one that I consistently order. The sweet and tangy sauce is very similar to many other takeaway favourites like sweet and sour chicken.
Not all Chinese recipes are easier to make at home but without doubt if you make this one with quality beef and ingredients, you will end up with a much better dish and more for your money. It is not a simple stir fry that takes minutes, it involves a few more steps but the result if so worth it.
Note: Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredients for crispy chilli beef
A good quality cut of beef. I tend to buy rump for stir fry dishes as it has good marbling which means more flavour. You don’t need to use sirloin or more expensive cuts as you after tenderising and cooking, you won’t notice the difference.
You can even use bavette of skirt steak too. If you use bavette of skirt steak, you need to prepare it properly. If you cut it the wrong way and don’t tenderise the meat before cooking, you will end up with shoe leather.
Cut the strips against the grain, as you get shorter muscle fibres and is less chewy. Follow the steps for tendering meat below b, then move on to the marinade step.
The next step is tenderising the beef before marinating, this step is especially important for the cheaper cuts of beef. This technique is called water velveting.
Add 1 tsp baking soda to 2 tbsp water and pour it onto the beef. Give this a good massage and the beef will absorb all the liquid. Place aside until you are ready for the next step.
Rinse the beef well under running water to remove the residue of the baking soda.
Place the rinsed beef in a bowl and add the egg, cornflour and other marinade ingredients. Massage in the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Marinating the beef before cooking will add flavours to the beef that is in addition to the sauce. This will result in tender and flavourful meat.
The most important step in this recipe is the frying of the beef. You will need to coat the pieces of beef with corn flour or potato starch before frying. To get perfectly crispy pieces of beef, you will need to coat the beef twice.
The first time, the corn flour will be absorbed by the damp surface of the meat. The second time, dredge the pieces of beef in a secnd coating of corn flour, you will see that this layer is drier and will be ready to fry. You can either do the second coating just as you fry it or you can do it all in one go and separate the pieces with your fingers when you are ready to fry.
To make sure that you get maximum crispiness, you need to fry the beef twice. The first time you fry it is to set the shape and start to cook the batter. As you start frying, you will see air bubbles releasing which is what makes it crispy. Don’t touch the beef as it is frying. This will take about a minute. Remove freom oil and place on kitchen paper. A short rest here before the second fry will give the batter a bit of a rest and prevent the beef from overcooking.
The second fry is at a higher temperature to cook the beef. The bubbles will be smaller as most of the water has evaporated and maximum heat will help create that crispiness. At this stage you can fry it until the colour reaches a light golden brown. Do this in small batches to maintain a consistent temperature of the oil.
The last step of tossing the beef in the sauce take just about a minute. Make sure you gather all the ingredients before you start cooking, as it is very quick.
In a hot wok, add oil and add the aromatics garlic and ginger as this needs oil to release the flavours. Then add the onion and carrots and stir fry for a minute. Lower to a medium heat, add the sauce ingredients bring to a simmer. Then add the beef and toss or stir to make sure every piece is coated in the sauce.
Other Chinese beef recipes to try:
How to tenderise beef the Chinese way
Every Chinese restaurant uses the velveting technique to tenderise beef, usually for stir fries. In ths case, it is not for stir fry but for deep frying but the process is the same.
Place the cut pieces of beef in a big bowl, add some water and baking soda and set aside. The water will be remove any excess blood from the beef and the water will be absorbed into the meat, making it more juicy. Many recipe omit this step.
Then add a teaspoon of baking soda, which is used to break down the protein fibres and tenderise the beef. This step is especially important if you use the cheaper cuts of beef.
Before the next step, rinse the beef of the remaining traces of the baking soda as too much of this has a soapy taste.
Then proceed with the recipe as usual.
This beef dish is best served as part of a multi dish meal and with steamed rice. I know that some people like to order egg fried rice with this dish and that could work too as it doesn’t have conflicting flavours.
If you do cook this dish, do tag me on X, Instagram, Pinterest, Threads or Bluesky.
Chinese crispy chilli beef
Ingredients
- 350 g rump/ribeye/bavette or skirt steak
- 1 egg
- 6 tbsp
Cornflour or potato starch - 1 onion sliced
- 2 carrots shredded
- 2 Spring onion
- 2 red chillies sliced
- 1 tsp of chilli flakes if you prefer it spicy
- Neutral oil for frying
Marinade
- 5 slices of ginger
- 1 spring onion
- 1 tbsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- ¼ tsp White pepper
Stir Fry Sauce
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp MSG
- pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Cut the steak against the grain into strips as seen in the picture, as you get shorter muscle fibres and is less chewy.
- The next step is tenderising the beef before marintading, this step is especially important for the cheaper cuts of beef. This technique is called water velveting.
- Add 1 tsp baking soda to 2 tbsp water and pour it onto the beef. Give this a good massage and the beef will absorb all the liquid. Place aside until you are ready for the next step.
- Rinse the beef well under running water to remove the residue of the baking soda.
- Place the rinsed beef in a bowl and add the egg, cornfluor and other marinade ingredients. Stir well, cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Marinating the beef before cooking will add flavours to the beef that is in addition to the sauce. This will result in tender and flavourful meat.
- The most important step in this recipe is the frying of the beef. You will need to coat the pieces of beef with corn flour or potato starch before frying. To get perfectly crispy pieces of beef, you will need to coat the beef twice.
- The first time, the corn flour will be absorbed by the damp surface of the meat. The second time, dredge the pieces of beef in a secnd coating of corn flour, you will see that this layer is drier and will be ready to fry. You can either do the second coating just as you fry it or you can do it all in one go and separate the pieces with your fingers when you are ready to fry.
- Heat the oil to 180C.
- To make sure that you get maximum crispiness, you need to fry this twice. The first time you fry it is to set the shape and start to cook the batter. As you start frying, you will see air bubbles releasing which is what makes it crispy.Don’t touch the beef as it is frying. This will take about a minute. Remove freom oil and place on kitchen paper. A short rest here before the second fry will give the batter a bit of a rest and prevent the beef from overcooking.
- The second fry is at a higher temperature to cook the beef. The bubbles willbe smaller as most of the water has evaporated and maximum heat will help create that crispiness. At this stage you can fry it untiyl the colour reaches a light golden brown. Do this in small batches to maintain a consistent temperature of the oil.
- The last step of tossing the beef in the sauce take just about a minute. Make sure you gather all the ingredients before you start cooking as it is very quick.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil into the hot wok. Add the garlic, sliced onions and carrots and toss it to cook for about 1 minute. Then add back the beef and pour over the stir fry sauce. Stir fry to make sure that every piece of meat is coated with the sauce.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt if required.
- Plate up immediately and serve as part of a multi dish meal or serve over a bowl of steamed rice.
